In general, a BDD is a tool that bomb technicians utilize to detonate or disarm a bomb from a safe distance. The BDD includes a robot mounted gun which shoots a solid projectile or water shot at a package (e.g. the bomb). Determining the point of impact for the projectile is beneficial for safely disarming a bomb.
In some conventional systems, a camera is mounted to the barrel of the BDD. The camera captures a picture of a target (e.g. bomb), and then superimposes crosshairs onto the captured image which show the point of impact of a projectile fired from the BDD. These crosshairs, however, must be first calibrated at specific standoff distances (i.e. distances from the BDD to an intended target). Calibration is typically performed by inserting a boresight laser into the barrel of the BDD at a specific standoff distance. The crosshairs are then calibrated to intersect at the dot of the boresight laser illuminating the target. Once the crosshairs are calibrated, the boresight laser must be removed.
During a disarming mission, the BDD has to be positioned at one of the predetermined standoff distances utilized during calibration. Thus, conventional systems must calibrate the crosshairs for a finite number of standoff distances that may be utilized during disarming missions (the conventional system cannot automatically adjust for any given standoff distance). Conventional systems also place a burden on the technician to accurately estimate the standoff distance during the disarming mission (the conventional system cannot automatically determine the standoff distance).